Music boxes that play melodies are well known in the art. One such music box includes: a plurality of star wheels rotatably supported on a shaft and having a plurality of protruding parts protruding radially outward; a vibration plate disposed along the shaft and having a plurality of vibration valves corresponding to the plurality of star wheels; and a solenoid for each star wheel.
The solenoid is driven to control the rotation of the corresponding star wheel. The music box produces a melody by selectively contacting the vibration valves with the protruding parts on the star wheels. By controlling the rotation of the star wheels with solenoids, the protruding parts can be selectively made to contact and pluck the corresponding vibration valves at a prescribed timing. Accordingly, the conventional music box device can play arbitrary musical pieces, without having to replace a rotating member, such as a cylinder or disc.